Glass-manipulating mechanism.



F. W. ROTHAOKER.

GLASS MANIPULATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 23, 1908.

1,1 19,642. Patented Dec. 1, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

v MiIZdUJQ C LIZ/6122 01 F. W. ROTHAGKER.

, GLASS MANIPULATING MECHANISM. 1

APPLICATION FILED JULY 23, 1908.

1,1 19,642. Patented Dec. 1, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHBET 2.

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FRANK W. ROTHACKER, OF FOSTORIA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

' GLASS-MANIPUE'ATING- MECHANISM.

1,11aea2.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. i, 1914.

Application filed July 2a, 1908. Serial No. 444,947.

To all whom it MdjI/{COMGTTL Be it known that I, FRANK W. ROTH- ACKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fostoria, in the county of Seneca and State of Ohio, have invented acertain vention in such an a paratus is described =6 is a plan view of said chute.

in the following speci cation with reference to the accompanying drawings in which; Figure 1 is an elevation of a tubulat ng a paratus with my invention emboched tl erein. f Fi 2 is a detail transverse section on the ine 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front elevation showing the hopper and mechanism for feeding the tubes therefrom. Fig. 4 is a detail rear elevation of the connections for operating the feeding devices at the bottom of the hopper. Fig. 5 is a side elevationof the tilting chute used in connection with the feeding device. Fig. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the false bottom-or removable gate for the hopper. In. the various views I have shown the mechanism supported by astandard A such as is ordinarily employed for use with tubulating machines. I also show an ordinary table A for supportingithe usual burners (not shown), em loyed for directing a:fus-- ing: flame upon t e tubes as they are about .to be applied 'tothe tip ends-of the lamp bulbs; A suitable rest 2 for the upper end ofthe lamp bulb is supported on the standard A.

The glass "tubes as they are being heated .are held in a rotatable chuck B which in the present apparatus is air driven, after the manner shown in the patent to Fagan, 882,190,, imued March 17th, 1908. This chuck is controlled as to its opening and closing by means of a yoke B mounted at.

one end of a rock shaft B after the manner shown in the Fagan patent referred to; sald rock shaft receiving oscillation through the medium of a connecting rod B and a rocklng lever B operated by a hand lever C pivotally mounted on a bracket at the lower end of the supporting standard.

It is to be noted that when the yoke is thrown upward by the connections to be subsequently described, the chuck will be lifted up so'that its jaws open. When the yoke is dropped to its intermediate position as shown in Fig. 1, the chuck drops so that 1 its jaws-are thrown together by the cone in which they fit at their lower end. If the yoke be depressed still farther the bent ends thereof bear upon a plate rigid with the rotatable chuck and thus mayserve to brake the same when it is' desired to stop rotation. The hand "piece C on this hand lever is rotatable on said lever, and has projecting from it a pin C working in a slot in the end of the rocking lever B just described. Obviously the rotation of this hand piece will effect the oscillation of the rocking lever, and, through this, oscillate the yoke B which controls the opening, closing and rotation of the chuck.

A spring pressed detent C supported from the hand lever drops into a notch upon the hand piece and serves to ordinarily retain the latter in the intermediate position at which the yoke is thrown neither up to open the chuck nor downward to serve as a brake against the rotation thereof. In this position of the hand piece the chuck will be closed and any tubes held therein will be rapidly rotated. At the end of the hand lever is a link C supporting a sliding vertically reciprocatable sleeve C which has a bracket C projecting therefrom carrying the chuck mechanism.

Obviously by means of this hand lever the chuck may be: opened and closed independently of its vertical reciprocation, and further, the chuck may be vertically reciprocated v independently of its being opened or closed. This is a highly important condition in the operation of the tubulating mechanism. I

Mounted at the upper end of the supporting shaft is the devicev which I employ for feeding tubes to the rotatable reciprocating chuck, and this mechanism is supportedby a sleeve l) with a supporting frame. D secured thereto.v lln the supporting frame is journaled a rotatable shaft D having at the rear end thereof a ratchet wheel D which is engaged by a pawl D pivoted on one end of an oscillatory arm D loosely mounted on the end of said shaft. Said arm is connected by means of .a link D with a pivotally mounted weighted lever B through the medium of which mechanism the, aforesaid shaft is rotated after a manner to be tubes in the cylinder grooves during the feeding movement. At the lower end of these castings is pivotally supported a tilting, trough-likeffeed chute D; said chute having link connectionll) with the before mentioned weighted lever so that the oscillation of the lever will cause the chute to swing from a horizontal to'a vertical position or vice verse.

Secured to the lower end of the supporting frame is a curved retaining plate D adapted to prevent a tube from sliding out of the trough-like chute as it moves from a horizontal to a vertical position, said plate terminating at the proper point topermit the tube to pass'from the chute onlywhen the latter is at the desired position as, for example, the position in which the tube will drop directly into the rotatable clutch.

The hopper E is, as shown in Fig. 3, constructed with a back E and twosloping converging sides E. For reasons hereafter referred to, I prefer to make this hopper removable, and, for this purpose, so constructed as to rest upon the castings D at the bottom, and. provideit at the back with a loop'o'r strap E adapted to fit over a pro- .jecting uprightfmember D of the frame.

By thismeans' the hopper maybe lifted upward an'd'removed from the apparatus when it is empty, and a new hopper full of tubes may replace it. The hopper is preferably providedat'itsrear end withsome-suitable means E for hanging it upon a nail or hook, and-is also provlded at its rear end with projecting legs or supports E bymeans of, which the hopper may stand upon "a table durin the proceeding of loadin the same. In or er to fill such a hopper l d it preferable to use a false gate E at the bottom, suchvas shown in Fig. 7, to close the opening in the hopper while the operator 1s lac ing-fand preparing the tubes therein. hen to is drawn out from under the tubes and t ereafterth tubes are free to feed from the hopper in accordance with the operation of the machine.

lln practice the operator will ordinarily stand the hdpper with its false gate in position closing the opening at the bottom and place therein the tubes in a horizontal position with one end at the front of the hopper. When the hopper is thus filled, it is hung in a suitable position and a glazing flame passed over the exposed ends of the tubes, thus fitting them particularly for serving their function as exhaust tubes for the bulbs. The reason for this lazing process is that it rounds the edges of t e tube end and thus prevents the cutting of the rubber exhaust head which is placed thereover during the exhausting of the bulb. After the glazingprocess referred to, the hopper is placed on any ma chine which may be ready for a full hopper.

Such attachment is bad and the hopper se-' curely held in position b resting it upon the castings about the cod cylinder and passlng the strap at the back over the upright projecting portion of the supporting frame. The gate at the bottom is then drawn outward permittin the tubes to fall downward upon'the fee cylinder in a position to fill the grooves on the periphery of the latter. Assumingthe cylinder tohave been rotated to a point at which the next movement thereof will bring a groove containing a tube into almement with the vertical opening between the castings through which'the tube isdropped into the feed .chute, the op sired by the manipulation of the single handle which controls the entire machine ezllt' is of" course desirable that-the chuck jaw should be open at the time the Whale fed' oscillating the yoke on the crank shaft' to open the chuck. The upper end of said rod is bent laterally at B? and theibent portion projects through a slot in an arm Bt rigid?! fixed to a pivoted bar D carrying an a justable dog D ada ted to take'under the end of the/weightedflever D". The pivoted bar is secured at its lower endand S pport ed by the vertically reciprocatable sleeve C which supports the chuck, and consequently is moved up or down i'n accordance with the vertical movements of said chuck. A spr ng DV attached to, said sleeve tends to draw the bar over to'such a position thatthe dog will engage the weighted level when the sleeve:

is rals'edto a'proper elevation. The inward movement of said dog is obviously controlled 'bythelsterally'. bent end B of the connecting rod B which operates the rock shaft 18*, and as said connecting rod rises to rotate 1100 erator will then secure suchrotation as dem-iaeeai the said rock shaft, the bent end of the said rod will rise in the slot in arm I1) and ermit the spring D to draw over the pivoted bar D until the dog D- lies underthe weightedlever D. Thus the operator upon giving the hand piece a turn by .whichthe chuck jaws are Opened, will by this same movement permit the dog on the pivoted bar to pass under the weighted lever. A vertical movement of the'hand lever C will then transmit a vertical movement to the sleeve supporting the chuck mechanism, and this movement will cause the dog to lift the weighted lever D". The rocking of the weighted lever will, through the link at the rear end thereof, oscillate the arm on which the pivoted dog is secured, thus throwing the said dog back a notch so that the next downward movement of-the weighted lever.

will, through the medium of said awl, cause the movement of the feed 'cylin' er to the proper amount. The lifting of the weighted lever will also-through its link connections at the forward end, cause the tiltin of the feed chute, thus permitting any tube which, ma be "resting therein to be moved to a vertical position, the-tube. as beforesaid being held within the chute, while said vertical movement takes place, by the arc-shaped retaining plate secured to the bottom of. thesupporting frame.

. In order. to" prevent the chute from being 7 thrownbeyond the properpoint for registration with the chuck, I provide an adjustable sto F, as shown in Fi 4, at the rear end oft e machine for limitmg the upward throw of the weighted lever. 7

As soon as the tubeis fed into the chuck it drops upon the spacing plate beneath, and the chuck may be closed by giving the hand piece a twistto the left, thus dropping. the chuck dogs into place. This same move-- ment of the handpiece which closes the chuck dogs will draw the dog on the pivoted,

bar back from underneath the weighted lever permitting the weight thereon to restore it to its normal position, and at the same time rotate the feed cylinder one notch. The spacingplate, beneath the chuck may be of an pre erred form, such for example, as that s own in Fig. 3 of the patent to Fa ganabove cited. This s acing plate and the.

feed chuck together wit the means for rotating the same are no part of my present invention and I do not ered as claiming the same.

want of a better generic expression, the particular structure 'of the rod or tube fedl obviously not being material.

esire; to be consid-.

ed to cover the solid rods as' well-as the hol ow tubes for 'Having thus described my invention, I claim: I x

1. Mechanism for manipulating tubes comprisin a'chuck, means controlling the opening 0 said chuck, a hopper holding tubes with their length lying; in a substantially horizontal direction,- a means for feeding tubes from the hopper and turning them onesingle 'tubes, an open-ended trough chute in position to receive the tube from the feeding device, means for tilting, said chute intermittently, and a stationary member dis osed so as to contact with the end of said tu e to prevent it from sliding out ofsaid chute during the tilting movement,

3. Mechanism for feeding tubes comprisingaho per with an outlet fed by a rotatable feeding device in position to receive the tubes from said outlet and deliver them singl in a substantially horizontal p0.-

gravity,

sition, a t' ting chute below said feeding de vice arran ed to carry the tube to a substantially vertical position, means for intermittently' tiltingsaid chute, and a stationary plate disposed 'so as to contact with the end of said tube and retain it in said chute during the tilting, movement.

3 4. Mechanism for manipulating tubes com prising a containing means for a number of tubes, 12,- chuck for receiving and. holding a single tube, a feeding means for deliverlng 'a single tube from said containing means to said chuck com rising an open-ended trough disposedbe ow said containing means and" arrangedzto receive a tube therefrom in a substantially horizontal position, means for tilting said trough into a substantially vertical .posltion in line with said chuck,

and a stationary retaining. means coacting withthe open"end of said trough to. prevent the tube from dropping during saidtil'tin'g movement.

5. In amachine of the class described, the

combination of a chuck, hand-controlled means for-opening and closingsaid chuck,

a hopper disposed above said chuck for holding a number of tubes,.a tiltable trough for'delivering a tube. to said chuck, rotatable means disposed at the outlet of said hopper for -deli'verin a tubeto said. trough, and means where y the vppera tion of the chuck opening means controls thejoperati'onof said trough and said rotatable delivery means.

.' 6. In a machine ofthe'elassdescribed, the

combination of a chuck, 'hand controlledmeans for delivering asingle tube fromsaid hopper to said chuck com rising a rotatable closure for the bottom 0 said hopper and means forrot'ating said closure step by step and connections whereby each operation 01% said chuck openin means causes the said closure to be rotate a single step" 7. A machine of the class described com prising a chuck, means for opening and closmg said chuck, a hopper adapted to hold a number oftubes disposed above said chuck, means for feeding a single tube from said hopper to said chuck comprising a rotatable closure disposed at the outlet of said hopper, means for-rotatin said closure step by step, a chute mounte below said closure and w e eas means for tilting the same into a position substantially in line with said chuck and 5 signature in the presence of two Witnesses,

FRANK W. ROTHACKERI v Witnesses;-

W. B. MGC ARAN, Fees. 0. Mutant In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my 20 

